The Expanse: The Little Boy Amos Sees Explained | Screen Rant
In The Expanse season 5, Amos travels to Earth in order to settle Lydia's affairs — and confront his own past in the process, particularly his traumatic experiences as a boy. Amos Burton, formerly known as Timothy, is part of the core crew of the Rocinante, providing services both as a mechanic as well as a formidable fighter. Initially coming across as a dangerous sociopath, The Expanse has developed Amos's backstory on Earth gradually over the last few seasons, culminating in a number of big reveals about his childhood in season 5.
The Expanse season 5, episode 2, "Churn" shows Amos returning to Baltimore following the death of Lydia, the woman who essentially raised him, protecting him from his former traumatic experiences as a child prostitute. The episode gradually answers a number of lingering questions about his origins, like why he has the name of a former Earth crime lord, why Amos is so protective of children, and why Lydia is so important to him.
The Expanse season 5 also addresses another lingering mystery: why Amos won't talk about his past. Since almost the beginning of the sci-fi series, Amos is shown as comfortable among sex workers: in season 1 he told Alex that he "grew up in places like this" while the two were at a brothel. While initially, it appeared he may have been some sort of muscle or an errand boy for criminal activities, "Churn" confirmed what had been hinted for some time: that Amos was exploited as a child and forced to be a prostitute. This is confirmed in the flashback scene at the end of the episode, which shows Lydia having a heartfelt conversation with the young Amos — the same boy he saw throughout the episode.
Played by Cole Pollock, the boy is seen peppered throughout "Churn" in the background of a couple scenes set on Earth. The eyeline cuts between shots show Amos looking pensively at the child. Initially, it appears that he is pitying the boy (which would be in character for him), but the flashback reveals that the boy is actually Amos when he was a child. Seeing various structures in Baltimore is reminding Amos of events from his childhood. Timothy, as he was known back then, was rescued from his horrific circumstances from Lydia, who took him under his wing and cared for him. In retrospect, the brief shot of the mysterious woman looking at the boy with the bloodied face is Amos remembering a key moment when Lydia provided a maternal influence. Amos needs to reconcile his childhood trauma with his violent actions as an adult. In The Expanse season 5, Amos is finally confronting his past in order to decide what he wants for his future.
Amos is a violent man, but as The Expanse has progressed, his character has shifted as he willingly investigates his own ethics. While he is a deft fighter, and will not hesitate to be violent against others — even using fatal force against those he cares about — he does not have the same nihilistic ethos that he did in season 1. Amos was never sadistic, but always had a pragmatic attitude towards violence. This has changed as a result of his experiences on the crew of the Rocinante, particularly his realization that even Naomi wasn't ethically infallible, and therefore that he couldn't blindly trust anyone to be a moral compass on his behalf. Amos is on a journey to find himself and who he wants to be — and a key stop on that journey is confronting his past in Baltimore.